Card game

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a card game against the house. Optionally, before the cards are dealt, each player may place a bet. Then, a predetermined number of cards are dealt to each player. After the cards are dealt, each player decides whether to “Play” or “Surrender.” A surrendering player forfeits at least a portion of his/her bet, if one was placed. The game terminates for each surrendering player; however, the game continues for the other players. Optionally, each remaining player may bet a raise amount. Then, a hit card is selected from the deck and displayed to the remaining players. A player is a winner, if the player has a card with the same suit as the hit card and with a relationship with respect to the hit card, the relationship selected before the game as one selection from the following two choices: a value greater than the value of the hit card and a value less than the value of the hit card. Winning players who placed bets are paid a winning amount while losing players who bet forfeit a lose amount.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed generally to card games and moreparticularly to methods of playing a card game.

2. Description of the Related Art

As an industry, gambling has grown steadily throughout the United Statesand the world. Like most forms of entertainment, popular forms of gamingcome and go. A particular game that is popular for a period of time maysubsequently experience a period of reduced interest. For example, mostrecently, a card game named “Texas Hold'em,” which is a poker variant,has become extremely popular. However, in the past, other card games,such as Five-Card Stud, were more popular. Therefore, an ongoing needexists in the gaming arts for new games. In particular, a need existsfor new card games.

In recent years, gambling over a network, such as the internet, hasbecome increasingly popular. Card games lend themselves well to networkimplementations. For example, Texas Hold'em may be played over theinternet at many popular on-line gambling websites. However, as gamblingtrends come and go, a need exists for new on-line games, including cardgames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of playing a card gameaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a playing surface for use with the methodof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of hardware and an operating environment inconjunction with which implementations of the method of FIG. 1 may bepracticed

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a game module implementation of the methodof FIG. 1 in the hardware and an operating environment of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention relate to a method 12 (depicted inFIG. 1) of playing a game 10 (depicted in FIG. 2). The game 10 may beplayed with a standard deck of playing cards 14 or a portion thereof. Astandard deck of cards 14 includes fifty-two cards. The cards aredivided equally between four suits: hearts; clubs; diamonds; and spades.The game 10 considers all suits to be of equal value. Within each suit,each of the cards is assigned a unique value. By way of non-limitingexample, the cards may be ranked according to value in descending orderas follows: ace; king; queen; jack; 10; 9; 8; 7; 6; 5; 4; 3; and 2.However, as is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, alternaterankings may be used and the invention is not limited to the rankingdescribed.

Like many card games, the game 10 may be played in a single hand or mayinclude multiple hands. During a hand, all of the cards 14 dealt at onetime are played. A single hand of the game 10 includes all of the blocksdepicted in the block diagram of FIG. 1. The game 10 may be played forentertainment and/or gambling purposes.

The game 10 is played by players (e.g., players 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and20E). While for illustrative purposes FIG. 2 depicts five players 20A,20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E, the game 10 may be played by any number ofplayers. As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, two ormore standard decks of cards 14 may be combined to accommodate a largenumber of players.

All of the players 20A-20E play the game 10 against a single opponentreferred to as “the house” with the object of the game 10 being to beatthe house. If a player loses, the house collects the player's bets. Onthe other hand, if a player wins, the house pays out any winnings.Sometimes, a dealer 50 is a proxy for the house. The house is generallya casino; however, this is not a requirement. The house may be one ormore of the players 20A-20E, one or more third parties, a combinationthereof, and the like. Optionally, the players 20A-20E may compete withone another based on the number of hands each wins, the amount eachplayer wins, the amount each player loses, and the like.

The players 20A-20E may sit around a table 30 on which the cards 14 andbets in the form of currency, tokens, chips, and the like may be placed.The table 30 may include a betting area 40A, 40B, 40C, 40D, and 40E foreach player 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E, respectively. Each betting area40A, 40B, 40C, 40D, and 40E may be located near (e.g., in front of) oneof the players 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E. For example, each bet placedby a particular player 20A may be placed in front of that player inhis/her betting area 40A.

The table 30 may include a surrender area 45 in which cards 14 that havealready been dealt to one or more of the players 20A-20E may beselectively placed during the game 10. If one or more of the players20A-20E wishes to stop playing the game 10, cards dealt to any suchplayers may be placed thereby in the surrender area 45.

Before the game 10 begins, the dealer 50 is identified. A dedicateddealer may be selected who is not one of the players 20A-20E of the game10. For example, the dealer 50 may be a professional dealer provided bya casino. Alternatively, the dealer 50 may be identified by selectingone of the players 20A-20E to deal the cards.

With reference to FIG. 1, the method 12 will now be described. Beforethe cards 14 are dealt, if the method 12 is being used to gamble, inoptional decision block 300, each of the players 20A-20E decide whetherto place a bet. Each player that decides “YES” progresses to optionalblock 300. Players that decide “NO” proceeds to block 400.

In optional block 300, each player that decided to place a bet inoptional decision block 300, bets a bet amount. The house may collectthe bets or leave them in the betting areas 40A-40E. Those of ordinaryskill in the art appreciate that the house may impose bettingconstraints. Under such circumstances, the bet placed in optional block300 should conform to those constraints. For example, the house mayimpose what are commonly referred to as “house limits.” House limitsspecify a maximum bet amount that may be placed. Similarly, a minimumbet amount may be specified by the casino and/or the players 20A-20E.Further, a mandatory bet, such as an ante, may be required in optionalblock 300. After their bets are placed, the players progress to block400

In block 400, the dealer 50 begins a hand by dealing a predeterminednumber of cards to each of the players 20A-20E. In FIG. 2, the cardsdealt to each of the players 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E are identifiedby reference numerals 52A, 52B, 52C, 52D, and 52E, respectively. Thepredetermined number of cards dealt to each of the players 20A-20E maybe five. As is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, theprobability of winning may depend at least in part on the number ofcards dealt to each of the players 20A-20E. Therefore, the predeterminednumber of cards dealt may be determined at least in part on a desiredprobability that a selected number of players will win the game 10(i.e., beat the house).

The dealer 50 deals the predetermined number of cards to each of theplayers 20A-20E face down. While each of the players 20A-20E ispermitted to look at his/her cards, the players 20A-20E may not revealtheir cards to one another. If a player reveals his/her cards to anotherplayer, the player that revealed his/her cards is disqualified and maynot participate in the remainder of the hand. Optionally, all players towhom the cards were revealed may be disqualified. Alternatively, if thecards are revealed to one or more players, those cards are revealed toall of the players 20A-20E.

The cards may be dealt to each of players 20A-20E one at a time,according to a dealing order (e.g., clockwise, counterclockwise, and thelike) that may be based on a seating order of the players 20A-20E at thetable 30. For example, dealing may begin with the player 20E to theimmediate left of the dealer 50 and end with the player 20A to theimmediate right of the dealer 50. In other words, a first card in thedeck 12 is dealt the player 20E, a second card in the deck 12 is dealtto the player 20D, and so forth. After a card is dealt to the player20A, the dealer 50 deals a second card to player 20E, and so forth untileach of the players 20A-20E has the predetermined number of cards. Inhis example, the cards are dealt to the players 20A-20E in a clockwisefashion around the table 30.

The first player to whom cards are dealt may change at the start of eachhand. The players 20A-20E may take turns being the first one to whomcards are dealt. For example, after the player 20E has been the firstplayer to whom cards were dealt, at the start of the next hand, theplayer 20D may be the first player to whom cards are dealt. The firstplayer may be selected at the beginning of a hand according to theseating order of the players 20A-20E at the table 30 (e.g., clockwise,counterclockwise, and the like).

Optionally, the dealer 50 also deals himself/herself the predeterminednumber of cards face down in the dealer's area 60. These cards are notplayed but may represent a dealer's hand. The dealer's hand may be dealtalong with the cards dealt to the players 20A-20E, the dealer 50 beingincorporated into the seating order and receiving his/her cardsaccording to the seating order and the dealing order (clockwise,counterclockwise, and the like). The dealer 50 may occasionally be thefirst person to whom cards are dealt according to his/her place in theseating order and according to the dealing order (clockwise,counterclockwise, and the like). Alternatively, after cards have beendealt to the players 20A-20E, the dealer 50 may place the toppredetermined number of cards remaining in the deck 12 in the dealer'sarea 60.

In decision block 500, each of the players 20A-20E decides whether to“Play” or “Surrender.” Because each player may see only his/her owncards, each of the players 20A-20E may consider only the value and suitof their own cards in decision block 500.

Then, in blocks 520 and 540, the players communicate the decision madein decision block 500 to one another. For example, if in decision block500 the player 20A decided to “Play,” in block 520, he/she communicateshis/her decision to “Play” to the other players 20B-20E. The player 20Amay communicate his/her decision to “Play” by placing his/her cards facedown on the table 30. If the player 20A placed a bet in optional block200, the player 20A may place his/her cards face down near his/herbetting area 40A. If the player's betting area 40A is in front of theplayer 20A, the player 20A may place his/her cards face down behind thebetting area 40A.

If instead, in decision block 500, the player 20A decided to“Surrender,” in block 540, the player 20A communicates his/her decisionto “Surrender” to the other players 20B-20E. A player may communicate adecision to “Surrender” by placing his/her cards face down on the table30 in the surrender area 45. Cards placed in the surrender area 45 arereferred to as “surrender cards.” Optionally, the dealer 50 places thesurrender cards in a discard rack (not shown).

If the surrendering player placed a bet in optional block 300, inoptional block 550, the surrendering player surrenders a surrenderamount. The surrender amount may be determined as a function of the betamount. In particular implementations, the surrender amount may includeall or a portion of the bet amount (e.g., at most half of the betamount). For example, the house may collect half of the bet amount inthe surrendering player's betting area. The surrendering player mayretain the other half. Alternatively, if the house collected thesurrendering player's bet in block 300, the house may return half of thebet. The surrendering player forfeits the other half to the house.

The method 12 terminates with respect to each surrendering player;however, the method 12 continues for the other players by advancing tooptional decision block 510.

In optional decision block 510, the non-surrendering players mayoptionally decide to “Raise,” (i.e., place an additional bet). If aplayer decides to “Raise,” in optional block 560, he/she communicateshis/her decision to “Raise” to the other players. He/she may communicatehis/her decision to “Raise” by announcing a raise amount, placing araise amount on the table in his/her betting area, a combinationthereof, and the like. Because a decision to “Raise” inherently includesa decision to “Play,” the player may also perform any of the actionsthat communicate a decision to “Play” in block 520.

In optional block 560, the player bets a raise amount. The player maybet the raise amount in the same manner the player placed the bet inblock 300 (discussed above). Like any bet placed in block 300, the raiseamount may be subject to constraints, such as house limits, minimumraise amounts, and the like.

Next in block 600, the dealer 50 selects a “hit” card 70 from theremaining cards in the deck 12 and displays it to the players 20A-20E.By way of non-limiting example, the dealer 50 may select the “hit” card70 by burning the top card (i.e., placing it face down on the table,thereby removing it from the game 10) and displaying the next card inthe deck 12 to the players 20A-20E (e.g., turning the next card in thedeck 12 face up on the table 30). Alternatively, the dealer 50 mayselect the top card in the deck 12 as the “hit” card 70 and display itto the players 20A-20E.

After the “hit” card 70 is revealed to the players 20A-20E, in block700, any of the players 20A-20E who did not decide to “Surrender” inblock 500 turn their cards face up. Then, in block 700, their cards arecompared to the “hit” card.

Decision block 720 determines whether any of the players 20A-20E who didnot decide to “Surrender” in block 500 have won. Decision block 720determines a player has won when the player has a single card that hasboth the same suit as the “hit” card and a value greater than the valueof the “hit” card. Other implementations can have a player win with avalue less than the value of the “hit” card rather than greater than thevalue of the “hit” card. In other words, in addition to being of thesame suit as the “hit” card, the player's winning card has arelationship with respect to the “hit” card, the relationship selectedbefore the game as one selection from the following two choices: a valuegreater than the value of the hit card and a value less than the valueof the hit card. In optional block 800, each winning player that placeda bet, retains the bet amount (bet in block 300), retains the raiseamount (bet in block 550), and receives from the house a winning amount.The winning amount may be calculated as a function of the bet amount andthe raise amount. For example, the house may pay a winning player awinning amount equal to the sum of the bet amount (see block 300) andthe raise amount (see block 550).

Decision block 720 determines a player has lost when the player does nothave a single card that has both the same suit as the “hit” card and avalue greater than the value of the “hit” card. In optional block 900,all losing players that bet and/or raised forfeit to the house at leasta portion of the sum of the amount bet and the amount raised. The loseamount (i.e., the amount forfeited) may be calculated as a function ofthe bet amount and the raise amount. For example, losing players mayforfeit more than half of the sum of the bet amount and the raiseamount. In particular implementations, losing players forfeit both thebet amount and the raise amount. Preferably, the lose amount is greaterthan the surrender amount.

If multiple decks are used to play the game 10, it is possible that aplayer who does not have a single card that has both the same suit asthe “hit” card and a value greater than the “hit” card may have a cardthat is identical to the “hit” card. In such cases, the hand may beconsidered a draw (i.e., the player neither wins nor loses, and any betand/or raise placed are retained by the player). Alternatively, decisionblock 720 may determine the player has either lost or won.

Because a player that surrendered in blocks 500 and 540 may retain atleast a portion (e.g., half) of the bet, if any, placed in block 300, aplayer that is dealt only cards having a low value may decide indecision block 500 to surrender and thereby reduce the amount of his/herforfeiture to the house. Alternatively, if a substantial number of thecards dealt to a player have the same suit, the player may concludehis/her odds of winning are low and decide in decision block 500 tosurrender.

After blocks 800 and 900, the method 12 terminates. The dealer 50 mayreassemble the deck 14 by collecting any cards removed from the deckduring the hand (e.g., the cards dealt to the players and the dealer 50and the “hit” card). At this point, a new hand may be started byreturning to optional decision block 200.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of hardware and an operating environment inconjunction with which implementations of the method 12 of playing thegame 10 may be practiced. The description of FIG. 3 is intended toprovide a brief, general description of suitable computer hardware and asuitable computing environment in which implementations may bepracticed. Although not required, implementations are described in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by a computer, such as a personal computer.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that implementationsmay be practiced with other computer system configurations, includinghand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. Implementations may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

The exemplary hardware and operating environment of FIG. 3 includes ageneral purpose computing device in the form of a computer 1020,including a processing unit 1021, a system memory 1022, and a system bus1023 that operatively couples various system components, including thesystem memory 1022, to the processing unit 1021. There may be only oneor there may be more than one processing unit 1021, such that theprocessor of computer 1020 comprises a single central-processing unit(CPU), or a plurality of processing units, commonly referred to as aparallel processing environment. The computer 1020 may be a conventionalcomputer, a distributed computer, or any other type of computer.

The system bus 1023 may be any of several types of bus structuresincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memorymay also be referred to as simply the memory, and includes read onlymemory (ROM) 1024 and random access memory (RAM) 1025. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) 1026, containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within the computer 1020, suchas during start-up, is stored in ROM 1024. The computer 1020 furtherincludes a hard disk drive 1027 for reading from and writing to a harddisk, not shown, a magnetic disk drive 1028 for reading from or writingto a removable magnetic disk 1029, and an optical disk drive 1030 forreading from or writing to a removable optical disk 1031 such as a CDROM or other optical media.

The hard disk drive 1027, magnetic disk drive 1028, and optical diskdrive 1030 are connected to the system bus 1023 by a hard disk driveinterface 1032, a magnetic disk drive interface 1033, and an opticaldisk drive interface 1034, respectively. The drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 1020. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatany type of computer-readable media which can store data that isaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories(RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the like, may be used in theexemplary operating environment.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 1027,magnetic disk 1029, optical disk 1031, ROM 1024, or RAM 1025, includingan operating system 1035, one or more application programs 1036, otherprogram modules 1037, and program data 1038. A user may enter commandsand information into the personal computer 1020 through input devicessuch as a keyboard 1040 and pointing device 1042. Other input devices(not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellitedish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are oftenconnected to the processing unit 1021 through a serial port interface1046 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by otherinterfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serialbus (USB). A monitor 1047 or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 1023 via an interface, such as a videoadapter 1048. In addition to the monitor, computers typically includeother peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers andprinters.

The computer 1020 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer1049. These logical connections are achieved by a communication devicecoupled to or a part of the computer 1020, the local computer;implementations are not limited to a particular type of communicationsdevice. The remote computer 1049 may be another computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, a client, a peer device or other common networknode, and typically includes many or all of the elements described aboverelative to the computer 1020, although only a memory storage device1050 has been illustrated in FIG. 3. The logical connections depicted inFIG. 3 include a local-area network (LAN) 1051 and a wide-area network(WAN) 1052. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices,enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN-networking environment, the computer 1020 isconnected to the LAN 1051 through a network interface or adapter 1053,which is one type of communications device. When used in aWAN-networking environment, the computer 1020 typically includes a modem1054, a type of communications device, or any other type ofcommunications device for establishing communications over the WAN 1052,such as the Internet. The modem 1054, which may be internal or external,is connected to the system bus 1023 via the serial port interface 1046.In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to thepersonal computer 1020, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remotememory storage device. It is appreciated that the network connectionsshown are exemplary and other means of and communications devices forestablishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

As is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the method 12of playing the game 10 may be implement as computer-executableinstructions, such as program modules, stored in the memory 1022,executed by the processor 1021, and displayed to the user on the monitor1047. The user may interact with the method (e.g., communicate his/herdecision in block 500 and optionally in block 510) using one or more ofthe input devices (e.g., the keyboard 1040, the pointing device 1042,and the like) coupled to the processor 1021 by bus 1023.

The user may optionally select to be either a player of the game (e.g.,the player 20A) or the house. If the user elects to be the house, thecomputer-executable instructions may include instructions implementingone or more virtual players. Methods of constructing virtual players ofa game are well known in the art and will not be described herein.

In particular embodiments, the method 12 of playing the game 10 may beimplemented at least in part on the remote computer 1049 functioning asa central server coupled to one or more client computing devices. Eachof the players 20A-20E of the game 10 may operate one of the clientcomputing devices, such as computer 1020, coupled to the remote computer1049 via at least one of the networks 1051 and 1052. In suchembodiments, the central server is considered the house against whichall of the client computing devices play. The central server collectsany bet amounts, disperses any winning amounts, and retains anyforfeited amounts. Optionally, a portion of the method 12 may beimplemented on each of the client computing devices operated by theplayers 20A-20E. In further implementations, the method 12 may beimplemented as a distributed application across one or more peercomputing devices. In both client/server and distributed architectures,one or more users may perform the method 12 simultaneously (i.e., playagainst the house together). Such users may be located remotely withrespect to one another. Various implementations may also include one ormore virtual players that alongside one or more users.

The method 12 may be implemented as one or more game modules each ofwhich includes computer-executable instructions executable by a computer(e.g., computer 1020, remote computer 1049, and the like). Methods ofimplementing the one or more game modules of the method 12 using each ofthe aforementioned architectures (i.e., stand alone, client/server,distributed, and the like) are well known in the art and will not bedescribed in detail.

Referring to FIG. 4, for ease of illustration, the game module(s) aredescribed as a single game module 1200, however, as is apparent to thoseof ordinary skill, the various components of the game module 1200 may bedivided into separate modules executed on one or more computing devices(e.g., computer 1020, remote computer 1049, and the like).

The game module 1200 includes a data structure 1300 representing thecards within the deck 14. The game module 1200 also includes dealinstructions 1400 implementing block 400 by randomly selecting thepredetermined number of cards for each player of the game from the datastructure representing the deck 14. The deal instructions 1400 alsorandomly select the “hit” card (i.e., implement part of block 600) fromthe cards remaining in the deck (i.e., cards not dealt to the players).The deal instructions 1400 may also store the cards dealt to each ofplayers and optionally cards dealt to the dealer (i.e., the dealer'shand). The deal instructions 1400 also store the cards dealt to eachplayer so that the cards dealt to each non-surrendering player may becompared to the “hit” card.

The game module includes interface instructions 1500 for communicatingwith the players 20A-20E. The interface instructions 1500 present theplayers 20A-20E with the options available in the various decisionblocks of the method 12 and receive and store each player's responsethereto. For example, the interface instructions 1500 receive and storethe bet amount, if any, bet by one or more players 20A-20E in optionalblock 300. The interface instructions 1500 receive and store the raiseamount, if any, bet by one or more players 20A-20E in optional block550. The interface instructions 1500 also receive and store the decisionof each of the players in decision block 500 and optionally in decisionblocks 200 and 510.

The interface instructions 1500 also include display instructions 1510for displaying or otherwise communicating the cards selected for eachplayer to the player for whom the cards were selected. The displayinstructions 1510 also display the “hit” card to at least the playerswho elected to play in block 500. Optionally, the display instructions1510 may display the “hit” card to all of the players 20A-20E. Thedisplay instructions 1510 also optionally communicate the decision(s) ofone of the players to the other players. Further, the displayinstructions 1510 may communicate the bet and raise amounts, if any, betby one of the players to the other players. The display instructions1510 also communicate to each player whether he/she has won or lost.

The instructions of the game module 1200 include surrender instructions1600 that for each surrendering player, retain a portion of the amountbet by the player, if any, in block 300 and return a portion of theamount bet by the player, if any, in block 300.

The game module compares each player's cards to the “hit” card anddetermines whether each player has won or lost. Then, for each winningplayer, win instructions 1700 return the winning player's bet and raiseamounts, if any, and pay a win amount to the winning player, if any isto be awarded. For each losing player, lose instructions 1800 retain atleast a portion of the losing player's bet and raise amounts, if any.

As is apparent to those of ordinary skill, if the method 12 is beingused to gamble, the game module may optionally include an accountingmodule 1900 that stores an amount each player has available to bet. Theaccounting module 1900 subtracts any lose amounts lost by a player fromthe amount available to that player. The accounting module 1900 alsosubtracts any bet amounts surrendered by a player from the amountavailable to that player. Additionally, the accounting module 1900 addsany winning amounts won by a player to the amount available to thatplayer. The accounting module 1900 may also provide statisticalinformation about each player's account, bets, and a combinationthereof.

The accounting module and/or the game module 1200 may enforce anyapplicable betting constraints. Optionally, the game module 1200 mayinclude betting instructions 1920 that store and implement bettingconstraints. The betting instructions 1920 may also store bettingactivity and provide betting information to the house, the players, andothers.

The foregoing described embodiments depict different componentscontained within, or connected with, different other components. It isto be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary,and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented whichachieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangementof components to achieve the same functionality is effectively“associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, anytwo components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality canbe seen as “associated with” each other such that the desiredfunctionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedialcomponents. Likewise, any two components so associated can also beviewed as being “operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to eachother to achieve the desired functionality.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that,based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this invention and its broader aspects and,therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope allsuch changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scopeof this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that theinvention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will beunderstood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein,and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appendedclaims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations).

Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appendedclaims.

1. A method of playing a card game comprising: dealing a predeterminednumber of cards to at least one player, each of the predetermined numberof cards having a suit and a value; displaying a hit card to the atleast one player, the hit card having a suit and a value; if one of thepredetermined number of cards dealt to the at least one player has thesame suit as the hit card and has a relationship with respect to the hitcard, the relationship selected before the game as one selection fromthe following two choices: a value greater than the value of the hitcard and a value less than the value of the hit card, determining the atleast one player has won; and if none of the predetermined number ofcards dealt to the at least one player has the same suit as the hit cardand has the selected relationship with respect to the hit card,determining the at least one player has lost.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising, before dealing the predetermined number of cards tothe at least one player, receiving a bet amount from the at least oneplayer; allowing the at least one player to surrender; and if the atleast one player surrenders, returning a portion of the bet amount tothe at least one player.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:before the predetermined number of cards are dealt to the at least oneplayer, receiving a bet amount from the at least one player; and if theat least one player has won, returning the bet amount and paying the atleast one player a winning amount.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: after the predetermined number of cards are dealt to the atleast one player, receiving a bet amount from the at least one player;and if the at least one player has won, returning the bet amount andpaying the at least one player a winning amount.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising: before the predetermined number of cards aredealt to the at least one player, receiving a bet amount from the atleast one player; after the predetermined number of cards are dealt tothe at least one player, receiving a raise amount from the at least oneplayer; and if the at least one player has won, returning the bet amountand the raise amount to the at least one player, and paying the at leastone player a winning amount.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, before the predetermined number of cards are dealt to the atleast one player, receiving a bet from the at least one player and ifthe at least one player has lost, retaining at least a portion of thebet amount.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after thepredetermined number of cards are dealt to the at least one player,receiving a bet from the at least one player and if the at least oneplayer has lost, retaining at least a portion of the bet amount.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: before the predetermined numberof cards are dealt to the at least one player, receiving a bet amountfrom the at least one player; after the predetermined number of cardsare dealt to the at least one player, receiving a raise amount from theat least one player; allowing the at least one player to surrender; ifthe at least one player surrenders, returning a portion of the betamount to the at least one player; if the at least one player has lost,retaining at least a portion of the bet amount and the raise amount; andif the at least one player has won, returning the bet amount and theraise amount to the at least one player, and paying the at least oneplayer a winning amount.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the winningamount is greater than or equal to a sum of the bet amount and the raiseamount.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein if the at least one playersurrenders, the portion of the bet amount returned to the at least oneplayer comprises at least half of the bet amount.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the winning amount is greater than or equal to the betamount.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein if the at least one playerloses, the portion of the bet amount retained is greater than theportion of the bet amount that would have been returned to the at leastone player if the at least one player had surrendered.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, wherein if the at least one player loses, the portion of thebet amount retained is greater than or equal to a sum of the bet amountand the raise amount.
 14. A method of playing a card game against ahouse, the method comprising: betting a bet amount; receiving apredetermined number of cards, each of the predetermined number of cardshaving a suit and a value; based on the predetermined number of cardsreceived, betting a raise amount, or surrendering a portion of the betamount to the house; if one of the predetermined number of cardsreceived has the same suit as a hit card and has a relationship withrespect to the hit card, the relationship selected before the game asone selection from the following two choices: a value greater than thevalue of the hit card and a value less than the value of the hit card,receiving a win amount from the house; and if none of the predeterminednumber of cards received has the same suit as a hit card and has theselected relationship, forfeiting a portion of a sum of the bet amountand the raise amount to the house.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinthe win amount is greater than or equal to a sum of the bet amount andthe raise amount.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the portion of thebet amount surrendered to the house comprises at least half of the betamount.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the portion of a sum of thebet amount and the raise amount forfeited to the house is less than orequal to a sum of the bet amount and the raise amount.
 18. A computerreadable medium comprising a game module having computer-executableinstructions for: dealing a predetermined number of cards to at leastone player, each card having a suit and a value; displaying to the atleast one player the predetermined number of cards dealt to the at leastone player; selecting a hit card having a suit and a value; displayingthe hit card to the at least one player; and determining whether atleast one of the predetermined number of cards dealt to the at least oneplayer has the same suit as the hit card and has a relationship withrespect to the hit card, the relationship selected before the game asone selection from the following two choices: a value greater than thevalue of the hit card and a value less than the value of the hit card.19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions for: receiving a bet amount from the atleast one player; if none of the predetermined number of cards dealt tothe at least one player has the same suit as the hit card and one of thepredetermined relationships, retaining the bet amount; and if one of thepredetermined number of cards dealt to the at least one player has thesame suit as the hit card and one of the predetermined relationships,paying a winning amount to the at least one player.
 20. The computerreadable medium of claim 19, further comprising computer-executableinstructions for maintaining an account storing an amount available forbetting by the at least one player; subtracting the bet amount from theamount available for betting by the at least one player; and adding thewinning amount to the amount available for betting by the at least oneplayer.
 21. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions for: receiving a bet amount from the atleast one player; before displaying the hit card to the at least oneplayer, determining whether the at least one player has surrendered; andif the at least one player has surrendered, returning a portion of thebet amount to the at least one player.
 22. The computer readable mediumof claim 18, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:before dealing the predetermined number of cards to the at least oneplayer, receiving a bet amount from the at least one player; afterdealing the predetermined number of cards to the at least one player andbefore displaying the hit card to the at least one player, receiving araise amount from the at least one player; if none of the predeterminednumber of cards dealt to the at least one player has the same suit asthe hit card and has a relationship with respect to the hit card, therelationship selected before the game as one selection from thefollowing two choices: a value greater than the value of the hit cardand a value less than the value of the hit card, determining a loseamount as a function of the bet amount and the raise amount; and if oneof the predetermined number of cards dealt to the at least one playerhas the same suit as the hit card and has the selected relationship,determining a winning amount as a function of the bet amount and theraise amount.
 23. A system comprising: a user interface; a memory; adata structure stored in the memory, the data structure representing adeck of cards, each card having a suit and a value; a processor coupledto the user interface and the memory, the processor being configured to:select a predetermined number of cards randomly from the data structurerepresenting the deck of cards, display the predetermined number ofcards to a user using the user interface, select a hit card randomlyfrom the data structure representing the deck of cards, display the hitcard to the user using the user interface, determine the user has won bydetermining at least one of the predetermined number of cards dealt tothe user has the same suit as the hit card and has a relationship withrespect to the hit card, the relationship selected before the game asone selection from the following two choices: a value greater than thevalue of the hit card and a value less than the value of the hit card,determine the user has lost by determining none of the predeterminednumber of cards dealt to the user has the same suit as the hit card andhas the selected relationship, and use the user interface to communicateto the user whether the user has won or lost.
 24. The system of claim23, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indicationof a bet amount from the user before displaying the hit card to theuser, if the user has lost, to calculate a lose amount as a function ofthe bet amount, and if the user has won, to calculate a winning amountas a function of the bet amount, the system further comprising anaccount stored in the memory, the account comprising an amount availableto the user to bet, the processor being configured to add the win amountto the amount available to the user to bet and subtract the lose amountfrom the amount available to the user to bet.
 25. The system of claim24, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a requestfrom the user to surrender before the hit card is displayed to the user,and if the processor receives a request to surrender from the user, tocalculate a surrender amount as a function of the bet amount, and tosubtract the surrender amount from the amount available to the user tobet.